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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Marya find after she gives birth?

2. How does Ivan Ilych's relationship with his wife change when he begins to work at the Court of Justice?

3. How does Ivan Ilych handle his illness?

4. What is in Novomlinsk?

5. What rekindled Eugene Irtenev's love for his wife?

Short Essay Questions

1. What intrudes to make Marya unhappy?

2. Which ending of "The Devil" seems to be preferable?

3. When do Ivan Ilych and Praskovya Federovna finally arrive at a truce?

4. What does Ivan Ilych learn on his deathbed?

5. What torments Eugene Irtenev, and how does he plan to end his suffering?

6. How has Marya's attitude about marriage changed by the end of the story?

7. How does Ivan Ilych change when he begins to make money?

8. Describe the promotions Ivan Ilych receives.

9. What does Marya think about her marriage at first?

10. What is the relationship between the Grebensk Cossacks and the Muslim Tartars?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is Tolstoy's relation with his characters and the events he describes? Is he a sympathetic narrator, or does he distance himself from his characters' thoughts and actions?

Essay Topic 2

What is the state of civilization in the Russia of these stories? Are they modern, agricultural, primitive? What kinds of conflicts are taking place over the state of culture or progress? How do those conflicts reveal 'Russian culture'?

Essay Topic 3

To what extent are Tolstoy's stories allegories? How do characters and events in the stories map to values and ideas in the allegory? Explain the allegorical significance of two of Tolstoy's stories.

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